In modern times, energy is produced more and more by regenerative energy sources, such as wind turbines. In order to increase the efficiency of wind turbines, blades of the wind turbines are getting larger and larger. When increasing the size of the blades of the wind turbines, the transportation of the blades from the fabrication location to the location of operation is getting more and more complex.
Transportation of a wind turbine blade is done by trucks, trains or ships. Thus, by transporting the blades by these conventional transportation means, the available space for transportation is restricted by the environment, i.e. when transporting a blade by train or by truck the blades have to be fit to conventional tunnels or allowable heights in order to fit under it, for example. When transporting the blades by ship, the blades have to be stored in such a way, that the storage space is small, for example. Moreover the wind shadow area of the wind should be reduced in order to prevent tilting of the blades during transportation.
Hence, the environment conditions, such as diameters of tunnels or street sizes, may be a factor that restricts the size of wind turbine blades.
WO 03/057528 A1 describes a transport vehicle for a rotor blade of a wind energy turbine. The transport vehicle comprises a tractive engine and a trailer, which are interconnected by the cargo itself during the transport of the latter. A fixing device is configured in such a way, that it permits a rotation of the rotor blade about its longitudinal axis and a drive for rotating the rotor blade that is provided on the tractive engine and/or the trailer.
EP 1 849 719 A1 describes a transportation unit for a wind turbine rotor blade. The transportation system for a wind turbine rotor blade may include a root fixture adapted for receiving the root end of the wind turbine rotor blade and a tip end fixture adapted to receive the tip end of the wind turbine rotor blade. The root fixture and the tip end fixtures are provided as separate transportable units.